


1. first smile.

by bellclips



Series: love in october [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/M, Flufftober
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:02:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27015463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bellclips/pseuds/bellclips
Summary: flufftober! i will catch up, i'm chugging away at it.
Relationships: Vriska Serket/Dave Strider
Series: love in october [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1971847
Kudos: 2





	1. first smile.

**Author's Note:**

> flufftober! i will catch up, i'm chugging away at it.

When Vriska meets Dave for the first time, she is thoroughly unimpressed.

The so-called Knight of Time, someone who has ripped through countless enemies, timelines and problems in the kids session is _this_ weirdo?

She expected more.

Vriska crosses her arms and tilts her head up to look at the taller human, eyes narrowed.

“So you’re the Knight of Time?”

“I _usually_ go by Dave, but that works.” Dave has his hands in his pockets, so he simply shrugs at her question. Vriska looks him up and down, pausing at the clockwork cog on his chest before finally looking back up at his face. She sees herself reflected in his shades.

“Am I gonna get a name, or are you forever going to be known as Girl Who Checked Me Out?” He has an accent, an Earth one, and Vriska sighs.

“I wouldn’t lower myself down to human standards, thanks. Either way, it’s Vriska Serket. Thief of Light.” They don’t shake hands, don’t make a connection, Vriska simply walks off. She needs to converge with John anyway, to make sure that _this guy_ really is supposed to be the key to saving their sessions.

The next time she sees Dave, he’s talking with Kanaya and Karkat, gesturing as he’s telling a story? Vriska just sort of makes a face and keeps walking past, a bundle of maps in her arms.

“Stuck doing grunt work, Serket?” Vriska _almost_ jumps out of her skin at the sudden voice next to her, her footsteps matching the others. Dave walks beside her, slouched slightly.

“Nice bad posture. And I know that nobody else is going to do it, so it falls to meeeeeeee.” Vriska drags out the last word, raising her voice slightly to show her displeasure. Vriska fumbles for the door handle, and finally wretches open the door.

“Hey, I would’ve helped but y’know. Karkat and Kanaya just can’t seem to get enough of me.” Dave leans against the wall, and Vriska dumps the maps on the table in front of her, piled next to the numerous others.

“Well, Karkat is a pissbaby that craves social interaction, despite his stupid fucking mouth. And you’re both Knights, even though Karkat is just, a fucking disaster at any form of combat.” Vriska holds up one finger in the air, to list off the first of the two.

“Second, Kanaya is probably curious because for a large majority of our session, our Time player was dead.” Vriska finally puts up the other finger. Dave whistles before speaking.

“So, wait, hold up. You led a twelve man session without a Time player? Shit, I might just be impressed.”

“To be faaaaaaaair, a lot of our players were dead, dying, or going to be dead. We might be a combat based species, but fussing and meddling often result in more than a few dead bodies. And, like, _technically_ she was alive in some weird robot body that was _supposed_ to be a peace offering, but I was double crossed so. Fuck it I guess.” Vriska waves her hands in the air, and begins spreading out the maps, pinning them to the ground.

“I’ve heard tales of some of your exploits. A lot of people have actually warned me, hey, stay the _fuck_ away from Serket, she’s a bloodthirsty bitch.” Dave raises his voice for the last half of the sentence, and Vriska raises her shoulders in response.

“Why haven’t you left me the fuck alone then?” Vriska snaps at him. Dave lets the silence hang in the air for a few seconds, and then finally responds, voice level.

“I actually wanted to see what you were capable of. Like, on a fighting sense. Not in the ability to make like, an egg in the kitchen or bust some delirious rhymes.” Vriska finally turns to look at him, quirking an eyebrow.

“You want to fight _me?_ After hearing everything? Hearing all this rumors about what a _scaaaaaaaary_ person I am, the murderous spiderbitch?” Vriska almost feels her voice falter on the last word, but she presses on. Dave does one of his shrugs again.

“Hey, if you think you’re gonna get your ass kicked-”

“Oh, _as if!_ I’d wipe any of you humans right back to your crummy little Earth.” Dave’s expression finally changes, frowning slightly. But it’s back a second after.

“You _wound_ me. But you agree to having a strife then? One on one, no holds barred, iron cage match?” Dave straightens and Vriska nods.

“I’m not getting into a cage with you, but sure. Whatever is going to _crush_ your annoying ego more.”

“Sure, sure. Okay, sick. Let’s meet on like, your roof? The roof of this weird fucked up ship that we’re travelling on?” Vriska nods and finally, blissfully, the door shuts.

The next time she sees Dave, he’s standing on the roof, like he said he would be. There’s a sword next to him, embedded in the ground, and he’s leaning against it. She doesn’t recognize it, but shakes it off. She stops a few paces from him, and calls out.

“Hey, Strider.” Dave tilts his head slightly to see who it is, and then turns, facing Vriska fully.

“Yo, Serket.” Vriska settles back into a combat stance, holding her dice in her hand.

“Shit, are we playing Yahztee? I didn’t come prepared for that.” Dave tugs the sword out of the ground, holding it in front of him. Vriska grins at him, making sure that her fangs are showing, and rolls.

Dave dodges the cannonball that flies at him, and watches it sail off into space. Vriska takes the chance to roll again, flexing her Light powers to change the roll _exactly_ in her favor. Her hand wraps around the cobalt sword that materializes in her right hand, and she quickly closes the gap between her and Dave, bringing the sword down onto him, a perfect hit.

Or it _would_ have been a perfect hit, if Dave was still there. He’s standing to the right of her now, utterly unfazed. Vriska blinks, and then bursts out in anger.

“Oh, fuck you and your time-wimey bullshit, Strider!” She thinks she sees Dave smirk, but then his blade is coming at her, and Vriska deflects it off, jumping back to create some distance.

“We didn’t pinky promise on no Godtier bullshit.” Dave wags his finger at her, and Vriska rolls her dice again before leaping. Dave readies himself, and she can see his left hand rotate something in midair. Vriska immediately changes her aim for his right hand, but he still manages to flash step out of the way. She bares her teeth, and starts again, her luck allowing her to just barely avoid the cobalt arrows that are raining around them.

But Dave won’t be so lucky. And Vriska makes sure of that, reaching out and stealing some of his luck for herself. An arrow snags his cape, and he’s momentarily pinned in place. His mouth opens in surprise, an expletive of _shit_ sounding off before he simply moves forward in time, to a place where he doesn’t have the cape and isn’t pinned down.

They continue like that for awhile, orange and red pinging off each other, constantly two steps ahead of the other until eventually, they’re back right where they started, except now they’re panting, sweat-drenched, and staring at each other. Vriska tenses her legs, prepared to jump again, but Dave finally straightens, his sword disappearing into his fetch modus. Vriska raises an eyebrow, but Dave just sits down on the cold ground, letting out a sigh.

“Okay, okay, I really don’t think we’re going to get anywhere with this.” Dave is still panting, but his voice isn’t ragged, as if he’s actually wounded. Vriska doesn’t even remember getting anything past surface scratches on him anyway. She lowers herself to the ground, laying down fully.

“I’m surprised.” Vriska finally speaks after a few moments.

“Oh yeah?” Dave places something next to her. Vriska sits up, and eyes it. It’s a can of… juice, apparently. She reaches out to it, cracks it open, sniffs it cautiously, and then gulps it down. Dave’s sipping it through a straw.

“I didn’t expect your Time powers to be such OP bullshit.” Vriska huffs. Dave looks at her for a few seconds, and then laughs. She doesn’t jump, but the sound _does_ startle her.

“Hey, you’re tellin’ me. One second I was dodging just fine, and the next thing, my cape is caught. Fuckin’ stealin’ all my luck and shit, low blow Serket.” Dave gestures into the air before combing his hair from his face, and Vriska actually lets out a giggle herself. Dave looks at her, and grins, and Vriska…

Vriska feels something in her chest flutter, something that she hasn’t felt in a long time. Maybe even forever. She isn’t sure if it’s because her brains still rushing with adrenaline after their fight, or if it’s because she’s really, finally, getting a look at who Dave _really_ is.

Because she didn’t expect him to be the type to sit with her after their sparring session, smiling at her, his glasses slipping down his sweaty nose and just showing the barest of his ruby red eyes. His cheeks are flushed, splotches of red that are hiding some of his lighter freckles, and Vriska finally drags her eyes away, feeling her cheeks heat up even more.

His smile is nice. Nice enough to make Vriska feel like her tongue is lead, and that she can barely choke out the next sentence.

"We should do this again, Strider."

"We should. After all, who's going to keep my ego in check if not the alien that wrecked my cape?" 

"I'll trade you, you can have my orange sherbet one." Vriska flips her hood up, and Dave laughs again.

"I'll take you up on that. Shit's comfortable as hell."


End file.
